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By: Arnica Lande

A candlelit bath, a daily workout, a meditation practice, a journaling routine, all of these things help us form a stronger sense of confidence and self-love because they make us feel better. Self-love is a go-to intention for many at Fierce, and it can be practiced in a myriad of ways! However, at the end of the day, self-love is something that is cultivated from within each individual. By practicing self-care and positive thought patterns, we can learn to love ourselves unconditionally and live a happier life. 

When you attend a Fierce class and invest the time, you are nourishing your body and mind, which is proof that you believe you are worthy; worthy of growth, strength, and self-love. By being on the FierceFormer, you are choosing YOU, moment after moment for the entirety of the workout! And while some days are more challenging than others – whether it’s the insane leg block you just completed or you’re in a low head space when you arrive at the studio – you can use this time as an opportunity to notice your thought patterns and begin the internal work of self-care, creating self-love.  

It’s easy to get caught up in the negative thought patterns. In fact, as humans, we are conditioned to learn more from negative experiences than positive ones. A New York Times article uses a quote from Professor Baumeister of Florida State University, stating that those who are “more attuned to bad things would have been more likely to survive threats and, consequently, would have increased the probability of passing along their genes…Survival requires urgent attention to possible bad outcomes but less urgent with regard to good ones.” In other words, humans innately place higher importance on negative experiences, so it makes sense that negative thoughts have the ability to take over our minds. The beauty of that, though, is we can work to notice these thought patterns and re-word them, coming from a positive perspective!  

Loving yourself creates a safe and healthy foundation to live your life. Choices become clearer, and you can move from a space of action rather than reaction. You may take things less personally, have more positive experiences and interactions, and ultimately, feel good about yourself day in and day out! Like so much in life, self-love isn’t a destination, but a daily practice to better ourselves so we can lead a happier and healthier life.  

By: Reagan Rupard

Why do we move so slowly at Fierce45? You might have heard a coach mention using slow movement to build long and lean muscle, but what does that really mean?  To understand the benefits of slow control for building lean muscle, first, you’ll get a little anatomy lesson. There are two main muscle cell types in your body: type 1 fibers (slow twitch) and type 2 fibers (fast-twitch).

Slow-twitch muscle fibers are constructed to be more efficient over time. They contract more slowly and produce less power, but the cells are stocked with lots of mitochondria (you remember the powerhouse of the cell?!) that ensures 24-hour energy production for constant work. These cells are concentrated in our deep postural and stability muscles, those muscles that stay turned on all day to keep us upright. Think of an endurance runner when you picture slow-twitch fibers: they are lean, but can work for a really long time!

Fast-twitch muscle fibers are constructed to provide huge bursts of energy with fast, powerful muscle contractions. Rather than containing lots of mitochondria to produce constant energy, they store up an energy supply that gets burned up quickly. These muscle cells are more concentrated in our superficial muscles like our calves and the muscles of our arms. Think how quickly you run out of steam during an all-out sprint – that’s your fast-twitch muscle fibers running out of their stored energy! When you think of these muscles, imagine a sprinter.

These two muscle types work in different ways and therefore require different types of training to be strengthened. We train fast-twitch muscle cells with powerful movements against heavy resistance like jumping, sprinting, or lifting heavy weights with lots of self-generated momentum. When fast-twitch muscle fibers get stronger, they get bigger! This is why your friends who work out at Crossfit or in a similar style of exercise modality may tend to have greater muscle bulk – their fast-twitch fibers have grown to store more energy and have gotten larger to produce more powerful contractions.

Slow, controlled movements and strengthening against lighter resistance for longer periods of time improve the efficiency of our slow-twitch muscle fibers, causing the muscle cells to improve their energy production factory with more mitochondria. This means that these muscle cells are better and working hard for us all of our waking hours, and can provide more stability without fatigue during activities like skiing, running, and hiking. Beyond the aesthetic bonus of building leaner muscles as a result of increased energy demand without a large gain in muscle bulk, these muscles fulfill a protective role for our body, being there to stabilize and control movement in moments where you’re off balance or make unexpected contact with another object. Because they are most concentrated in our deep stabilizers around our joints, THIS is where you get the benefits of injury prevention and longevity in your sport outside of Fierce45. This is what, as a PT, gets me excited about having you on the machine moving slow and working hard. For more on how Fierce45 helps to prevent injuries, tune in to my next blog post.

Next time you’re in class and feeling that deep burn while the coach is telling you to keep moving more slowly, remember why. You truly are building more long and lean muscle fiber that is improving your body’s endurance and protecting you in the long run. That moment when you feel fatigued and your body wants to start using momentum to move the carriage, that’s the point where your body, if you choose to keep moving slowly with control, is making incredible strength gains.

Instagram handle: @kecomer

Spotify name: Kristina Comer

Teaching schedule: Hilltop Tuesdays 5:30/6:30/7:30a + RiNo 4:30/5:30p

1. How long have you been teaching at Fierce45? a little over 2 years! I took my first class 3 years ago 🙂

1. Three words to describe your classes? empowering, intentional, challenging

1. Who/what is your spirit animal? I am a cat lady through and through, so I would have to choose a cat. They are happy chillin’ out & getting cozy at home, but they also love to hang with their favorite people. They’re curious and particular and that also resonates with me.

1. Favorite workout/class music? def have more of a pop and upbeat vibe in my classes

1. Favorite move on the machine? carriage sprinters is still an all-time fave – so much balance and stability but still heavy pushing!

2. What is your favorite thing about the Fierce45 community? With the smaller class sizes, we really get to know our clients! It’s so fun to see people week to week and know what’s going on in their lives. I also love that we have spread out to have so many studios, and every time I sub I get to meet new people. All the coaches & management team here are amazing and I always am learning from them.

3. Why do you love teaching at Fierce45? I love to teach and motivate others to live a healthy lifestyle and find their best selves. I also get to meet so many people in the community, hear about their lives, and connect.

4. Why do you love Fierce Movement as a method? It really changes how you think about movement – it’s powerful, difficult, and you get sweaty, but without moving full speed ahead. It forces you to slow down, connect with your body, and understand that change can happen with the tiniest adjustments.

5. Tell us a fun fact about you! I am definitely more of an introvert, and teaching fitness classes is something I ALWAYS aspired to do, but it took me several years to get the courage to jump in. I started out teaching barre and found my home at Fierce45, it’s been such a learning experience and a step out of my comfort zone in so many ways.

By: Reagan Rupard

On the Fierceformer, we ask a lot of our wrists; the three joints of the wrist and many joints of the hand support our body weight in any version of plank. Whether you’re dealing with chronic wrist pain in planks, are working out with a wrist injury, or are hoping to use some tips and tricks to protect your wrists in the long term, this month’s blog post is here to help!

First, let’s take a look at neutral alignment of the wrist. You hear the word “neutral” a lot during Fierce classes, but it’s not just about the spine. Neutral alignment of any joint is the position where we optimize our biomechanics so that joints are able to support the weight of our body without undue stress on the connective tissues that surround the joints. Contrary to what you may think, a straight line from your forearm to your knuckles is not the ideal position of the wrist. Instead, a little bit of wrist extension is needed to put our wrist in its happy place – the place where it can safely and effectively transfer the weight of our upper body and torso down through our bones without the pain-causing irritation to soft tissues.

There are two problems with the way we tend to do a plank:

1. our wrist is at end range extension

2. we are typically relaxed through our forearms giving our wrists no support from our forearm muscles.

Your wrist pain may not be limited to planks on the front platform: poor wrist position can also affect your ability to do core moves on the handlebars, some heavy leg exercises, and heavy upper body pushing exercises on the handlebars. The FierceFormer® is designed with wrist safety in mind. You have lots of options for wrist alignment to improve the endurance of this joint. A rule of thumb: get your knuckles below your wrist. 

My tips for decreasing wrist pain and improving stability:

• If you choose to do a flat palm in a plank with full wrist extension, grip the machine with your fingertips to activate your forearm flexors to support your wrist.

• Try doing planks on your fist! This position puts your wrist in neutral alignment and helps transfer your weight down through your knuckles.

• Use the machine design: drop fingers and knuckles down into the eyelets in the front platform or bring hands down to the platform bar or platform pegs to help you find a more neutral alignment.

• In handlebar exercises, push weight through the meatiest part of the heel of your hand and allow knuckles to roll forward on the bar so that they are below your wrist.

• In heavy side handlebar press, turn the fingers of your backhand toward the back of the room

• In all planks, think about activating your core and puffing up in the space between your shoulder blades so that the muscles of your core, chest, and shoulder girdle are helping support your weight rather than pushing “dead weight” down onto your wrists.

If you have current wrist pain or are looking to avoid developing wrist pain, try on these modifications. If you currently have a wrist injury, do moves on forearms or substitute for belly-up core moves as needed to get the most out of your 45 minutes. Always feel free to ask your coach about how you can support upper body discomfort so that you can spend your core block focusing on core!

By: Arnica Lande

The New Year is the perfect time to set new goals and reflect on previous ambitions, habits, and achievements. Resolutions are created to make us feel better about the endless possibilities the future holds, and then shared in hopes of long-term accountability and success. Oftentimes, though, these resolutions are formed out of regret and negativity. So, this year, instead of making a resolution derived from the need to fix something that isn’t necessarily broken, we challenge you to set an intention, or multiple intentions, to help you reach your goals.  

We write our intentions on the chalkboards at Fierce to remind us throughout class of our “why” – what motivates us, what inspires us, what keeps us going when things become challenging. Our intentions provide the steppingstones to help us reach our bigger goals. Rather than something that seeks to fix, an intention is a more creative and positive means of reaching our desires.  

It all comes down to reframing the thought process behind bigger goals. Intentions allow a productive and mindful way to scale back larger goals and make them attainable over time. Whether it’s more self-care, speaking kindly to oneself, or increasing your Fierce classes to 4 times per week, all those intentions will have a domino effect in life, ultimately creating even more positive changes down the road! 

Kick 2021 off with the usual motivation of a New Year, but with lasting intentions that won’t let you down by mid-February. Choosing a positive mindset to move through each day will not only leave you feeling better but will make those tough days feel so not tough!  

INSTAGRAM HANDLE: @meg_lafrance

Spotify name: m.bennett010

TEACHING SCHEDULE: Monday – 4:30 and 5:30 pm at RiNo; Tuesday – 6:30 and 7:30 am at RiNo; Wednesday – 10:30 am and Noon at LoHi; Thursday – 11:00 am and Noon at RiNo; Friday – 11:00 am and Noon at RiNo

1. How long have you been teaching at Fierce45?
   A little over two years & I love it! This community and method are incredible!

2. Three words to describe your classes.
   Uplifting, energizing, PARTY

3. Who/what is your spirit animal?
   Man, this is a tough one…… My dog Hazel. She always has a good time, can be rambunctious, takes naps as needed, and we both enjoy long walks.

4. Favorite workout/class music?
   I love a good remix! I use to ONLY like hip-hop when working out. But now I will listen to almost any genre depending on my mood.

5. Favorite move on the machine?
   These questions are hard! How can I choose just one?! Honestly, I love a good back carriage hero. The core lights up IMMEDIATELY!

6. What is your favorite thing about the Fierce45 community?
   Being connected to such amazing humans. Being able to watch a client’s growth. The understanding and support that is in this space, we legit have the best fam <3

7. Why do you love teaching at Fierce45?
   I love the outlet to be creative; building a routine, creating a playlist. I love to create a fun and challenging space for my classes. It’s exciting and fulfilling to create and see people enjoy it. The community is AMAZING! We have a family of some of the sweetest souls I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. I have met so many amazing people, and I am so thankful for the lifelong friends I have made at Fierce45.

8. Why do you love Fierce Movement as a method?
   I love Fierce Movement because every time you come to the machine you will be challenged in a new way. It is amazing and inspiring to really see and feel the strength that you are creating. And to be honest, it’s tough – and I really like getting my booty kicked!

9. Tell us a fun fact about you!
   I am originally from Louisiana. I am so proud to be from Louisiana, hit me up if you ever make a trip to NOLA – I can have my paw-paw make you some delicious gumbo! My husband and I considered moving here without EVER VISITING Colorado. We prayed about our move and thankfully everything lined up to make the leap to Denver. I am SO thankful we took the jump. We love it here <3 I’ll leave you guys with this – if there is a calling on your heart no matter how scary or challenging it may look, lean into your faith and take the risk! Life is too short, so go for it!

By: Arnica Lande

The year 2020 will forever go down as the year of the COVID pandemic: of loss, of growth, of revitalized friendships, and new ways to connect virtually. The year of remote work, of masks, of social distancing and isolation. The year of new normals in hopes that we can go back to old ways once more. The year of social change, of collective social education and recognition of racial and gender disparities, of self-reflection. The year of a new definition for the word “hero”. The year that people learned to sit with their thoughts, and most importantly, learned how to surrender to what life has in store. Amongst the chaos of 2020, calamity has been found by surrendering to each moment, living presently, and embracing life as it is.  

You hear your Fierce coach preach it all time – “presence” – and no, we aren’t talking about presents you receive this time of year, but the act of mindful living and being “in” the moment. It’s hard enough to be present without a disease affecting everyone’s day to day life, however, clearing the mind and surrendering to each moment so you can fully experience it can help us appreciate even the tough times. A few ways we think are helpful to living life in the present:  

1. Exercise. It may be cliché, but you’ll never regret a workout! Exercise is a great stress reliever, not to mention an amazing way to challenge yourself and surrender to something that may feel uncomfortable. We practice this at Fierce45 every day, finding comfort in discomfort, because we know that’s when our bodies and minds begin to change. Surrendering to the challenge, being present in each moment of the 45 minutes on the machine, can help us better handle tough situations off the machine!  

1. Meditation. For many people, the simple practice of sitting in silence for a few moments each day helps to quiet the mind, discredit doubts, and feel grounded. Sometimes the brain can feel so cluttered, and meditation provides tools for handling the clutter that may bring on stress and anxiety. Think of it as a workout for your brain! Meditation apps like Calm and Headspace have boomed this year thanks to 2020. 

1. Talkback to insecure thoughts. Ever get caught up in your head, only to pull yourself away minutes later and realize how much time has passed? Rather than listening to any negativity or self-doubt, talk back to yourself! You’d never let someone else speak to you that way – so why do it to yourself? In noticing thought patterns, you can begin to live more presently in each moment.  

1. Routine. For many of us with our pre-COVID routines, this year has definitely thrown a wrench in our day to day lives. We see the social memes and hear it in-studio, how people feel they’ve lost control over their nutrition and have consumed more alcohol since they did in college. It’s important to remember that this year is different from any others. For most, we are trying to cope with loss, change, and a new life, so give yourself some grace and be kind. We are all living through wild times and surrendering to this year can help us enjoy each moment a little more thoroughly.  

When it feels like there are so many reasons to be down, when you feel down because sometimes, life is just plain hard, practicing presence and truly surrendering in that moment can ultimately lift the spirits. A lot of it comes down to perspective and the mental mindset, a huge part of the Fierce45 method. Enjoying the present, surrendering to each moment, will ensure we close out our crazy Covid year with a bang.  

Those first few seconds at the beginning of a move, when a coach is cueing you through a toe-to-head (or head-to-toe) list of adjustments to set up alignment may sometimes feel like a break; like the work hasn’t really started yet – at least, that’s what I sense from clients who are anxious to start moving or what I feel in my body when I’d rather sneak in a few seconds to relax. I want to challenge you to use these first 10-20 seconds on the clock as an up-level your entire 45 minutes.

Part of what makes Fierce45 easier the longer we do it is “muscle memory” of how the moves are supposed to look and feel. That’s not to say that Fierce45 is easy by any means, but we aren’t looking around the room feeling like an awkward baby deer during our first carriage lung or plank to tabletop (or maybe that was just me!?). This muscle memory is great because we get better at moving safely and with good alignment. But, I think there’s a temptation to allow muscle memory to make class too easy over time. It’s tempting to show up and move through the same range of motion at the same spring load, occasionally zoning out during class or hitting a place where we aren’t really getting sore anymore.

I want to challenge you over this month to experiment with something: really tune in those first 10-20 seconds during move set up. Alignment: Listen to the cues your coaches are giving you and check the mirrors. Finding correct alignment is crucial for ensuring that your body is in the position to turn on the right muscles. Muscle Engagement: As I say in class, “these holds at the beginning of a move should feel like work!” Even without movement, start building intensity by turning on our target muscle groups that set the tone for the rest of the move. If you’re at the bottom of a lunge, squeeze your muscles to your bones and push your foot down into the ground. Make sure you’re not so low in a lunge that you’re stretching instead of actively contracting. In a kneeling crunch, make sure your butt is not dropped back towards your heels; move it forward over your knees and notice how that lights up your core. Movement: Use these sensations from your muscles to define your range of motion. For those 60 or 120 seconds, never move into a range where you lose your neutral alignment or lose that sense of muscle engagement.

Refuse to use the beginning of a move as a break. Set up with a strong intention for how the work is supposed to feel and what your alignment should look like. What I think you’ll find is that you leave class feeling more fatigued – mentally and physically, from the intensity you’ve added to your movement and the cognitive demand of paying such close attention to what you’re feeling. But you know what comes from hitting a fatigue point: strength. What I hope you’ll find after this month of setting up with and committing to intention is that you have a stronger sense of connection with your body and the way it moves on the machine. I think you might wake up a few mornings this month with sore muscles.

Hold on to those priorities this month: Alignment. Muscle Engagement. Movement. We can’t have just the movement without the foundation of correct alignment and muscle engagement – build it in those holds at the beginning of a move. Stay tuned in, and leave December stronger.

Instagram handle: @livingonholiday

Spotify name: Saara – https://open.spotify.com/user/rd2nanzq8efaxlih4alnjytdz?si=WPR-G6FASX-VXypTk5qsIg

Teaching schedule:

All at Lohi –

Monday 6/7/9 am

Tuesday 4/5 pm

Friday 10:30/noon

Sunday 7:30/8:30/9:30 (every second week)

1. How long have you been teaching at Fierce45? My 1 year anniversary is on Dec 11th! Same day as my wedding anniversary ha

2. Three words to describe your classes. Challenging, energetic, and cheeky

3. Who/what is your spirit animal? Swan

4. Favorite workout/class music? Poppy Princess

5. Favorite move on the machine? Any version of lateral lunge!

6. What is your favorite thing about the Fierce45 community? Meeting a load of new pals – the fierce community is so open and friendly

7. Why do you love teaching at Fierce45? Love connecting with clients and taking hard classes

8. Why do you love Fierce Movement as a method? It’s always hard!

9. Tell us a fun fact about you! I order my chocolate from home (Scotland) and have it every day as my Lunch Dessert with tea

By: Arnica Lande

Gratitude may be the theme of the month at Fierce45, but it’s arguably the theme of the year. We are living through a pandemic, something most of us never thought to see in our lifetime, and with stay-at-home orders being enforced worldwide, social lives turned social less, jobs lost and nationwide unrest, we are forced to carve out a new way of life. It can be easy to fall into a pattern of negativity but seeking out gratitude each day in the things that might bring us back to a sense of normalcy, or a new way of doing the things we love, can help ease some of the communal stress. Given the state of the world, we at Fierce are more grateful, now than ever before, for our Fierce community and having a safe mental and physical space to show up in for our workouts. 

Returning to the studios in June was exciting and daunting. The Fierce team worked hard to create a workout space that adhered to city and state social distancing guidelines, but how would wearing a mask affect the workout? What about those studios that no longer have lobbies, the source of conversation and connection before and after class? How do we sustain the core value of community while rushing clients in and out the door? We quickly were brought back to what Fierce is at its core: a kickass workout delivered by incredible coaches, surrounded by badass humans (a safe 6 feet away, of course). The amount of gratitude that poured in from clients and coaches alike fueled our mission to keep our doors open and provide a workout that was not only a physical release, but a mental one as well.  

In a time when one can feel socially isolated, mental health concerns are at an all-time high. Fierce has provided a safe opportunity to be around and feel the energy of other people while in the room working out together. According to the US National Library of Medicine, “Exercise improves mental health by reducing anxiety, depression, and negative mood and by improving self-esteem and cognitive function. Exercise has also been found to alleviate symptoms such as low self-esteem and social withdrawal.” To put it simply, in the words of Elle Woods, “Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don’t shoot their husbands, they just don’t.” So yes, coming to Fierce can alleviate any at-home remote work tension with your partner or roommates, and you’ll definitely feel better afterwards.  

Even while living through a pandemic, it’s comforting to know we can find a new normal with our old faves, all the while taking care of our health and seeing friends. So, this month, we practice gratitude: gratitude for our clients, a workout that is truly Hard Every Time, and our seriously badass team of coaches and management.